Next to the Christmas holiday season, New Year’s also records an increase in the number of crashes in BC.
“It is indeed a little busier because obviously, the weather is colder, it’s slipperier, and it requires a little more patience.” Ingrid Brakop ICBC Road Safety Coordinator said. “Unfortunately in the winter months, we see that we’re still having a number of collisions that we know could potentially be avoided if drivers just practiced better driving habits.”
Brakop shared some statistics.
“In the Southern Interior for example during New Years’, on average, about 22 people are injured in approximately 110 crashes so obviously we’d like to see those numbers come down to zero. In the province on New Year’s Eve on average, about one person loses their life, and 200 people are injured in over 730 crashes.”
According to ICBC, over both the Christmas Holidays and New Year’s, 540 people are injured in over 19-hundred crashes in the province, that’s 23 crashes every hour.
To help get you home safely, Brakop says avoid distractions by leaving your cell phone alone, stay updated on road conditions, and plan for a safe ride home with a designated driver, or take a taxi.